


Yet Another Lonktober

by Suliana



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Families of Choice, Family Feels, Found Family, Hylia is a see you next Tuesday, I can't write things that aren't angst, I'm Going to Hell, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Sibling Rivalry, Will mostly be the LU boys, You've been warned, because i love them, but I've been having a lot of stress at work, i make no apologies, so I need to angst them, the goddesses made me do it, there's going to be angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:53:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26885434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suliana/pseuds/Suliana
Summary: What it says on the tin.
Kudos: 25





	1. Triforce

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm starting a week late, sue me.
> 
> Also I hardly ever name my chapters. This is weird, yo.
> 
> And we start with angst, because that's how I roll.

He could feel it under his skin sometimes, _aching_.

Not quite like a mosquito bite or a cyst, but more aggressive, more _painful_... like a splinter the size of a log.

Years of running had taught him to hide it beneath his bracers. 

Out of sight, out of mind, after all.

If he couldn't see it, neither could _they_.

If it wasn't seen, it didn't exist.

... so he told himself.

It didn't stop it from hurting. 

The not-so-bad days had it feeling like he had leaned on his hand wrong for too long, like pins and needles, returning circulation. It was almost tolerable, _ignorable_ when it was like that.

The bad days... he had started wearing bracers because of the bad days. 

He could remember the first _really_ bad day, when he had scratched his hand open, nearly to the bone. Only a sick realization of what would happen if Ganon's minions found him had stopped him, wrapping his arm in the cleanest rags he could find, biting on a stick as he _screamed_ at the pain he couldn't escape.

The thick leather of the bracers prevented that from happening again, at least.

It didn't stop it from _hurting_.

He was convinced the others didn't understand. Those who had held the entire Triforce had only held it for short periods... he was the only one who _still_ actively held it, and had for _years_. They hadn't felt the weight of ancient relic, of the _Three_ , as keenly as he had, for as long. 

Sky had tried reassuring him once, late one night between watches. He had sat close, flipping his sailcloth out so it covered them both. _The Three wouldn't put more upon you than you can handle_ , he had said, confident.

Ladies above, he wished he could be that confident, just once.

Sky had listened to his soft words about his feelings of feeling so _small_ , of the _pain_.

But Sky hadn't realized that 'Rule wasn't talking of mental pain. 

'Rule hadn't had the heart to tell him, to _show_ him.

He couldn't do that.

He _couldn't_. 

He admired Sky's unwavering belief in the divine.

He wished he could have that sort of purity himself.

But he _didn't_.

He _couldn't_.

Not when he had to quickly hide bloody nails sometimes, when the pain got too bad, when the _pressure of having the power of the goddesses literally in the palm of his hand_ got to be too much.

He was just a traveler.

He didn't want anything more than that... just some woods, a pack of basic supplies, and a blue sky.

But the Triad had different plans for him.

Instead, he stayed quiet, trying not to scratch, trying not to clutch at his hand on the not-so-good days, trying to not loosen the leather thongs holding his bracers shut, trying not to shove twigs down to scratch the pain away.

It wouldn't work.

He'd tried too often.

On the bad days, the _really_ bad days, he would bite the inside of his cheek until it bled, but he stayed quiet.

He _couldn't_ do anything else.

The Three wouldn't put more upon him than he could handle.


	2. Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sky muses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so very clever at using both the title and the character.

He had missed his home.

He had missed Sun, sweet Sun, absolutely.

He had missed his loftwing. His loftwing had missed him too, churring softly and wrapping her wing around him, like he was a newly fledged nestling.

He had missed the Academy, the strangely soothing monotony of daily life.

He had missed his carvings, his shelves of notions and novelties.

He had even missed the food, though now that he was getting regular meals cooked by Wild, that was quickly fading.

He had snuck off, after their arrival to his era. The others had all settled into their borrowed rooms, slipping off to their own devices. Naps, weapons repair, exploring... they were all involved.

He was on top of the Academy's main building, his sailcloth rolled tightly into a makeshift pillow. The sun was out and bright, a gentle breeze coming in from the east kept the heat from getting too bad. Far off, young riders were on their loftwings, laughter echoing across the town.

And above...

Cerulean blue skies reached as far as the eye could see across the horizon, not marred by a single cloud at this altitude. 

It was something the others wouldn't appreciate, he suspected. To be fair, he hadn't outright _asked_ , but it wasn't something he could explain, the desire, the _need_ to settle in. 

The vastness of the sky reminded him of his place in _everything_.

It was humbling.

He must have dozed off for a while, lulled by the warm tiles of the roof beneath him, cooled from getting too hot by the crosswinds.

A head was nestled on his stomach, a bleached-blond head tilted upwards. Tanned skin seemed to glow under the warm sun, and Wind seemed to be a sunflower personified.

Maybe... maybe he had been wrong.

Of all of the others, perhaps there was one who could appreciate the sense of being embraced by the sky itself. Perhaps... 

Yes. A sailor most certainly would, he mused, his sleepy mind trying to draw comparisons between the sky and the sea, and only coming up with trite drivel.

He pushed the thought aside and moved a hand to tousle Wind's sun-bleached hair. 

The giggling, surprised protests drifted off on the breeze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing drabble-y things is just so... weird.

**Author's Note:**

> mmhmmm


End file.
